


Piece by Piece

by Oracle123



Category: Original Work
Genre: Horror, Tell me your thoughts, slowly vanishing, what even am I doing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27018358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oracle123/pseuds/Oracle123
Summary: A boy doing chores the day before his big date. Nothing could be wrong, right?
Kudos: 1





	Piece by Piece

Johnathan woke up with a slight yawn, his arm feeling really sore for some reason. " Mmm, I must have been scratching in my sleep again." His eyes were still blurry, so he didn't look around for his shoes, deciding to instead go barefoot.

He noticed how the floor seemed a little colder than usual, but he wouldn't be there long enough for it to matter. The carpet of the floor outside his room would be warm enough for him. As he ventured down to the kitchen, it seemed oddly quiet. Too quiet.

Johnathan smiled and waved at his parents while they fixed coffee, saying something about what they had heard on the tv. Something about a guy being found in his home with chunks of him bitten off? The talking heads said they thought it was some sort of rabid bear, but weren't sure, and would ' please ask everyone in the county to lock their doors before they went to bed and closed their windows.' We were doing that already stupid, to keep the damn mosquitos out.

He went about his day in a sort of daze, filling out the chore chart he had and then sitting down to work on his wood statue. The day flashed by him so quickly, and when night time came he felt so tired. Too tired for what he had been doing, but he figured it was just one of those days. Anyway, he had a date tomorrow with that cute girl from class, and he needed to make sure he was up nice and early to pick her up on time.

He waved to his parents while he walked back up to his room, letting out a soft sigh. The floor creaked beneath his feet, and he flopped onto his bed, quickly shuffling under the covers and setting his head down on the softest pillow he had. With that, Johnathan closed his eyes and fell asleep.

He couldn't quite remember what he dreamed that night, but he did remember that it sounded, wet. Oh well. When he woke up he grunted and slowly stretched out his arms, reaching over for his prosthetic hand. A quick moment of pulling the straps on tightly and he was fully equipped for the day.

He stepped out into the floor of the hallway, once again seeming colder than usual, but played it off. It also seemed, longer, but it was probably just him being tired. Johnathan once again waved to his parents as he passed by. Before he left to go do his chores, he noticed the window was unlocked. " Dad! You forgot to lock the damn window."

" Ah, well I must have forgotten." His old man lazily looked over his arms and legs. " No mosquito marks, so I guess we were ok. Mind closing it up for me?"

" Yeah yeah." He shut it close and went about his day, the sun setting far too quickly. He didn't even get any wood working done. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

For a moment he thought he had seen something among the trees, but brushed it off. A bear wouldn't be that tall, and they didn't have tails like that.

He returned to his room, not even giving his parents a good night. He wuld have to make them breakfast to make up for it in the morning, which would mean getting up even earlier for his date. He undid the straps that kept his hand connected to his arm and slid into bed, sighing softly.

The next morning he let out a soft groan and stretched his arm, bending it and feeling it pop. He reached over and grabbed his wooden arm, cracking his neck and attaching it to him. Johnathan, feeling an odd sense of loss, made his way downstairs, feet shuffling against the floor. "Hey mom, hey dad." They smiled and gave him good mornings, seeming to take care not to look at his arm. " Hey, you wanna hear a weird dream I had?"

" Sure son." His dad took another bite out of his toast, his face seeming a little, waxy. Hmm, must be him.

" I dreamed of a lizard looking thing, like some kind of gator." John shrugged and took a stab at his eggs, quickly eating them up. " Anyway, see you later mom, pops." Lean in in to give them a kiss on their foreheads, he quickly left to take care of his tasks for the day. He took a small break during lunch to work on cutting wood, and ended up making some weird looking eye thing. He tossed it into the fire place afterwords. He returned to working after that and soon the sun set. Once again, he felt tired to his bones, far more tired than he should have been.

He bade his parents good night and flopped onto his bed. He had to wake up early for his date tomorrow. That night he dreamt of nothing but his room, and what he swore was a pair of eyes staring at him from his doorway, glinting in the soft light from the moon and full of malice.

He grunted as he woke up, feeling a strange aching sensation where his knee should be. He shrugged it off, having dealt with it for years now. Can't miss what you didn't have after all, and it was only the work of a moment to slip on his peg leg, and then his false arm.

His flesh and blood foot revealed just how chilly the floor was, and he hurried downstairs where the heat of pan cooked bacon would heat him up some. He looked up at the tv after trading daily morning rituals to see reports of some guy having been found in pieces this morning. They thought some bear had broke into his house and got him.

" Poor bastard." He said, chowing down on his toast, leg creaking softly. " Hey dad, we better make sure we keep the windows locked."

" Already are." His dad smiled at him, though it seem strained towards the edges.

" Good. Anyway," he finished his breakfast, placing the plate into the sink and wiping the bread crumbs into the trash can. " Hey, would you mind if I used your car tomorrow? Pick up Jules?"

" Of course not. Just bring it back with a full gas tank ok?"

" Sure thing." He left to do his tasks, the sun once again setting far too quickly for his liking. And he had even forgotten to eat lunch, caught up in his daydreams. He stumbled up to his room and collapsed onto his bed, taking careful care to remove his metal limbs, making sure to wipe them down with an oiled cloth.

That night the lizard seemed closer, and he could feel its tongue brushing against the bottom of his foot. It was, slimy. Sharp. ( Oh god where was his foot?)

The next morning he woke up with a groan, cracking his neck. It took a moment to but on all three of his false limbs, metal feet clanging against the floor. He often wondered what it would be like to be able to feel the wood beneath his feet in the mornings, but hey. Can't miss what you never had, right?

He made his way downstairs and sighed as he saw the window was unlocked. His dad was nose deep in a newspaper and flashed a quick smile towards Johnathan. " Hello son, sleep well?"

" Yeah, it was alright. Couldn't get comfortable for a while, but oh well right?" He chuckled and sat down to fix himself some toast, only letting out a soft curse when his leg became slightly loose. He didn't turn around in time to see his father grimace.

" Hey dad, I got that date tomorrow, mind if I take the car?"

" Not at all son. Just bring it back with full gas, ok?"

" Sure thing." He gave him a kiss on the head and left out the door to take care of chores, taking lunch to work on some wood. He wasn't very good, but he made a fair amount of progress on a lizard look alike. It almost looked like an alligator, if a gator could smile and had human eyes. He said hi to his mom as well, making sure to give her a hug.

Night fell and he found himself walking back to bed, tired beyond what should have been possible, the shadows in his room seeming darker than they ever had before. He pulled off his legs, but they were just so heavy. So, cold. His arm came off with a bit more difficulty, and he found himself staring at his stump. His mom always said his stump looked almost frighteningly similar to bite marks, like something had chewed his limbs off when he was born. He didn't put much stock in it, but younger him had frequent nightmares of some nameless beast coming into his room and biting into him, piece by piece.

Anyway, he needed to get to sleep, he had a date tomorrow.

He didn't dream that night. His sleep was fitful and he turned, becoming entangled in his bed.

When he woke, he could barely keep his eyes open, looking into the face of his father. " Hey there champ." He felt a soft hand pushing hair behind his head. " Here, lets just." He grunted as his dad helped him put on the first of him limbs, and was grateful when his dad backed away. They both had discovered early on that he much preferred to put the rest of them on himself. A modicum of control.

Smiling, he hefted himself up with a loud groan and a chuckle. " So, let me guess. Toast again?"

" Yep. Oh, and don't think i forgot about your date tomorrow. If you want I'll let you use my car."

" Yeah, I think I'd like that." They both went downstairs and ate in silence, watching the tv. Something about a man being found in his home, mauled and bitten all over. " I feel bad for the bastard."

" Yeah." His father looked him over, grimacing a little. " Make sure the doors are locked before we go to bed, ok?"

" Sure sure." He wrapped his arms around his dad in a smile, saying " tell mom goodnight for me ok? I know she was kinda tired this morning, and was complaining about her arms being sore." He slowly pulled off his prosthetics and let his his dad help him with the final one, yawning as he felt the blankets weight on him.

" I will. See you tomorrow." His father shut the door, turning off the lights on his way out. Good thing he went to bed early, he had- Wait, why was he going to bed early? Oh well, he would remember in the morning.

That night, in the chill of his room he felt something heavy crawl onto his bed, its weight familiar and strange, dangerously strange. Something was there that did not belong. His senses screamed at him that he was in danger, that he needed to wake up, right now.

He tried to thrash but it settled on him, keeping him still. Bound. Trapped. Johnathans eyes snapped open and he found himself staring into two orange eyes, a too human grin on the alligators face. A loud hiss left its maw and it slowly opened, revealing rows of teeth, far more than there should have been.

" Please," the young man found himself whimpering, unable to push it off, unable to get away. " Please, no."

The beast did not listen.


End file.
